Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Soeung Chamber (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cheon Muryang walked into the office as if he owned the place, looking around.
“Quite a lot of expensive items. I assume you collected them all yourself, Chamber Master.”
“Ah, y-yes, I did. Please, have a seat. I'll have some tea served.”
“Oh, shall we?”
Cheon Muryang deliberately sat in the seat of honor.
“...”
Seeing this, the Soeung Chamber Master’s expression stiffened for a moment, but Cheon Muryang acted as if he hadn't noticed at all.
So, though he was seething inside, the Chamber Master suppressed his anger and greeted Cheon Muryang.
“I hope my sudden visit isn't an inconvenience.”
“Had you sent word in advance, I would have prepared a formal reception. I was just surprised by your sudden arrival.”
The attendant who had tried to stop Cheon Muryang earlier brought in the prepared tea.
“So, what brings you to the Soeung Chamber?”
“Ah, it's nothing major. I just happened to witness something on my way here.”
Cheon Muryang continued, smiling like the scoundrel he was pretending to be.
“It seems you're collecting funds on top of the tribute you pay to the Cheon Family?”
“What? W-What are you talking about? H-How could I do such a thing?”
The Soeung Chamber Master vehemently denied it.
But Cheon Muryang’s smile only widened.
“I already know everything, Chamber Master. I'm a busy man, why else would I have come all this way?”
Cheon Muryang whispered.
“The Head of the Inspection Unit told me.”
“Ah!”
The Soeung Chamber Master's face soured.
*That bastard, the Head of the Inspection Unit! He ratted me out to this scoundrel. And after telling me to cover up the evidence?*
The Chamber Master was busy cursing the Head of the Inspection Unit internally, but he could only respond to Cheon Muryang with a smile.
“If you had told me sooner, I would have prepared the Great Young Lord's share myself.”
“Indeed. I was having some fun in Hangzhou and found myself in need of quick cash, so I dropped by to see if there was anything to be had.”
“Ah, I see.”
It was as if he could hear his inner thoughts.
*That damn scoundrel. To think he smelled money and came all the way here.*
Cheon Muryang smiled, subtly pressuring the Chamber Master.
“I trust I can count on your sincerity, Chamber Master? As you know, this involves money, so the Family is very sensitive about it.”
Cheon Muryang made a slicing motion across his neck with his hand.
Knowing full well it was a threat directed at him, the Chamber Master chuckled and prepared something.
“Oh, would you be satisfied with just this for today?”
It was a heavy pouch.
Inside, there was likely a considerable amount of silver.
“Well now, I didn't realize you were so stingy, Chamber Master. I must say, I'm quite disappointed.”
“What?”
Cheon Muryang spoke with a cold expression, completely different from before.
The Soeung Chamber Master couldn't understand.
*B-But that's a lot of money…!*
Wasn't it a generous amount?
But Cheon Muryang's expression remained frigid.
“Th-Then, how much do you want?”
A smirk.
Finally, the words he wanted to hear.
Cheon Muryang slowly raised the corners of his mouth and said.
“Everything the Soeung Chamber has skimmed over the years. All of it.”
“…!”
His scoundrel-like smile remained, but the aura emanating from him was entirely different.
“W-What do you mean by that?”
“You seem to have skimmed quite a lot. If you've eaten that much, you should spit it out.”
Cheon Muryang kicked off the chair and stood up.
*Crack!*
The innocent chair, unable to withstand his aura, shattered.
“Isn't that how the laws of the Cheon Family are properly upheld?”
*Fwoosh!*
“Huk!”
At some point, Cheon Muryang was already holding a sword.
“Chamber Master.”
“…!”
*Shing!*
The sword shot toward the ceiling.
In that instant, the Chamber Master had the illusion that the sky was splitting apart.
*Fsssh!*
A white line was drawn.
The line materialized and sliced across the Chamber Master’s shoulder.
*Craaash!*
Still, the sword wind didn't stop, flying on to strike the office wall.
Wind blew in through the hole, which was large enough for a person to pass through.
“From this moment on.”
“…!”
*Whoosh!*
The wind tossed Cheon Muryang’s hair.
The scoundrel Great Young Lord was nowhere to be seen.
Only a sharp sword existed.
That sword declared resolutely.
“The Soeung Chamber is no longer an ally of the Cheon Family.”
“G-Great Young Lord...”
“Therefore, I intend to thoroughly investigate the corruption committed by the Soeung Chamber and make you pay the price.”
*Creak!*
The door burst open.
Then, the warriors of the Soeung Chamber rushed in.
“Chamber Master!”
They were aghast.
It was only natural, seeing their master bleeding from the shoulder.
The aura of the men who instantly surrounded Cheon Muryang was murderous.
But Cheon Muryang spoke calmly.
“Anyone who moves from now on will be cut down, no questions asked. So, don't move.”
He didn't want to hold them accountable.
He wanted to believe that only the Chamber Master was corrupt.
*Flinch.*
Despite their numbers and murderous intent, they couldn't move.
It was then.
“Great Young Lord, what are you doing here?”
A new person appeared.
It was none other than the Head of the Cheon Family's Inspection Unit, Cheon Ahaeng.
“Head of the Inspection Unit, you've finally arrived?”
Cheon Ahaeng was a member of the Council of Elders.
So, though they were blood relatives, it didn't matter.
There were no familial bonds between them.
“I asked what you are doing.”
The Head of the Inspection Unit's aura was formidable.
In response, Cheon Muryang chuckled.
“Can't you tell by looking? I'm exposing the Soeung Chamber's corruption.”
“C-Corruption?”
“This is something you should have done long ago, Head of the Inspection Unit. Isn't that why you're here?”
“...”
The Head of the Inspection Unit was struck dumb.
You could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he tried to grasp the situation.
*Your thoughts are so predictable.*
These people were not the core of the problem, just side branches.
There was no way people who only thought of their own gain would have any loyalty.
Just as expected.
Having assessed the situation, the Head of the Inspection Unit abruptly drew his sword.
“The, the Great Young Lord is right! Everyone, lower your weapons!”
The force of his bellow was enough to earn him the reputation of being formidable even in decline.
He may not have had the character befitting his title, but his martial skill was respectable.
*Not yet...*
He probably couldn't win in a head-on fight just yet.
But he was just a small hill.
A hill that he would eventually surmount.
*Soon enough, I'll have you on a leash too.*
Watching the Head of the Inspection Unit screaming and berating the Chamber Master was like watching a play.
“Tsk.”
For whatever reason, the Soeung Chamber Master offered no resistance.
*A glance.*
But Cheon Muryang didn't miss the Chamber Master's gaze darting somewhere.
*The desk?*
Documents were scattered messily across it.
Soon, the Chamber Master, as if having made a decision, broke the silence and stepped forward.
“Did you think I would just take this lying down? Even a cornered mouse will bite a cat.”
The Soeung Chamber Master gritted his teeth.
He couldn't back down like this.
“Kill them both.”
“Chamber Master?”
“You fools, this won't end with just you returning the bribes you took. Killing these two and running is the only way to save your own lives.”
“…!”
The eyes of the men who had lowered their swords at the Head of the Inspection Unit's command widened.
They finally realized this matter wasn't so simple.
“Kill them. We can only live if we kill these two.”
The Chamber Master’s words became their motivation.
A reason they had to kill Cheon Muryang and the Head of the Inspection Unit.
A sinister killing intent arose.
“Wh-What, what's going on?”
Cheon Ahaeng, on the other hand, was flustered.
He had trained in martial arts since childhood and become quite strong, but he had never actually been in a life-or-death battle.
To him, who had been raised like a delicate flower, such a menacing killing intent was unfamiliar.
“Head of the Inspection Unit, I'll give you one last chance. Will you die here? Or will you kill the Great Young Lord and silence him?”
“…!”
The Head of the Inspection Unit's mind started racing again.
*Pfft.*
How ridiculous.
Looking at the spineless Head of the Inspection Unit, a laugh escaped him.
He put an end to Cheon Ahaeng's desperate deliberation.
“Stop looking around and just act.”
“Hey! Great Young Lord, what kind of tone is that! To your elder!”
“Ah. I remember now.”
He remembered.
The Head of the Inspection Unit was the epitome of a condescending old fool.
“I-I'll have to teach you some manners!”
“What a load of bullshit.”
“Y-You...!”
Why was it?
Even though Cheon Ahaeng, who was stronger than him, had turned against him, Cheon Muryang felt no fear.
*Was I always this iron-willed?*
It seemed his soul had hardened after experiencing death.
Being able to maintain his composure in any situation was a huge advantage.
“Come at me if you dare.”
Cheon Ahaeng’s sword strike flew at him.
*Sword ki.*
A bluish light coated the blade.
He was no match in a direct clash, but Cheon Muryang had a secret technique that Cheon Ahaeng knew nothing about.
“I'll teach you what a dragon's wrath is.”
Dragon's Wrath Slash.
Cheon Ahaeng's sword lost its flow.
“Huh?”
In an instant, the sword escaped Cheon Ahaeng's control.
Following the circular flow of the Heavenly Light Sword, a storm-like force raged along Cheon Ahaeng's own blade.
*Stab!*
The Heavenly Light Sword pierced Cheon Ahaeng's shoulder.
“Argggh!”
It must have been the first time he'd ever felt such agony.
And so, Cheon Ahaeng dropped his sword.
“Tsk.”
The hill named Cheon Ahaeng was even more insignificant than he thought.
“There was nothing to even overcome.”
Sheathing the Heavenly Light Sword, Cheon Muryang stared at the remaining warriors of the Soeung Chamber.
“It seems I was mistaken.”
It wasn't just the Chamber Master who was rotten.
“Then again, if the water upstream is polluted, how can the water downstream be clean?”
These men were all in it together.
They were nothing more than parasites, exploiting the people of Shaoxing.
“You're going to kill me and run?”
Even Cheon Muryang himself didn't know why he couldn't hold back his laughter in the face of such overwhelming odds.
A scoundrel's smile spread across his face.
“Do it, if you can.”
*Swiiish!*
The Heavenly Light Sword tore through the air.
The soaring blade cut them down in place of the heavens.
It cleaved through everything that stood in its way.
Just like the sky.
*Fsssh!*
Gushing red blood splattered the ceiling and the floor.
“…!”
Cheon Muryang, drenched in blood, looked like a malevolent god of slaughter.
Blood flowed down the blade of the Heavenly Light Sword.
*Drip.*
*Drip, drip.*
“Next.”
Cheon Muryang's chilling voice uprooted even their will to fight.
*Flinch!*
So, even though the Soeung Chamber warriors knew they had to kill Cheon Muryang, they couldn't bring themselves to move rashly.
Seeing them waver, the Soeung Chamber Master had no choice but to step forward himself.
“I won't be caught off guard like before.”
His shoulder had been cut, but he believed it was only due to his own carelessness.
“Do as you please.”
Having already seen the Head of the Inspection Unit fall, the Chamber Master hesitated to charge in recklessly.
*Why... is there no opening?*
Despite wanting to break through that arrogant posture, he couldn't find a single gap.
“Not coming?”
*Swish.*
The Heavenly Light Sword moved first.
The rushing strike, though ordinary, felt like a bolt of lightning.
*I can't dodge it.*
He felt that the moment he tried to evade, the sword would follow.
So, he forced himself to raise his sword.
*Claaang!*
Along with a sharp sound.
*Thud.*
The Soeung Chamber Master's sword, broken in two, fell to the floor.
*Drip.*
That wasn't the end.
A long, vertical gash split open on the Chamber Master's chest.
“...It seems everyone has been deceived about the Great Young Lord until now.”
The Soeung Chamber Master had no choice but to admit it.
That all the rumors surrounding the Great Young Lord were false.
“Should I thank you for finally realizing?”
“However, you will surely die here today, Great Young Lord.”
With those meaningful words, the Soeung Chamber Master took a mysterious pill from his robes and put it in his mouth.
“Because I won't let you live.”